Kenya not doing enough to cut mother, babies deaths – report

Too many mothers and babies are still dying from preventable causes, a new report says, suggesting the progress to reduce these deaths has stagnated.

In Kenya, about 355 women, out of every 100,000 live births, die each year from pregnancy-related causes.

There is little progress from 2014 when 362 mothers died per every 100,000 live births.

The United Nations, in a new report, said the death of any woman or young girl during pregnancy or childbirth is a serious violation of their human rights.

The report 'Improving Maternal and Newborn Health and Survival', was released by the World Health Organization, Unicef and UNFPA.

“Pregnant women and newborns continue to die at unacceptably high rates worldwide, and the Covid-19 pandemic has created further setbacks to providing them with the healthcare they need,” Dr Anshu Banerjee, director of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and ageing at the WHO, said.

“If we wish to see different results, we must do things differently. More and smarter investments in primary healthcare are needed now so that every woman and baby - no matter where they live - has the best chance of health and survival.”

Newborns do not have it better.

Neonatal mortality – death within the first 30 days of life –declined marginally to 21 deaths per 1,000 births in 2022 from 22 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014, according to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS 2022) released in January.

Globally, the UN report says there are around 290,000 maternal deaths each year, and a staggering 2.3 million newborn deaths.

Funding shortfalls and underinvestment in primary healthcare can devastate survival prospects, the report says.

For instance, while prematurity is now the leading cause of all under-five deaths globally, less than a third of countries report having sufficient newborn care units to treat small and sick babies.

In sub-Saharan Africa, around two thirds of emergency childbirth facilities are not considered fully functional, meaning they lack essential resources like medicines and supplies, water, electricity or staffing for 24-hour care.

In the worst-affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia – the regions with the greatest burden of newborn and maternal deaths - fewer than 60 per cent of women receive even four, of WHO’s recommended eight antenatal checks.

In Kenya, 66 per cent of women had four or more ANC visits for their most recent live birth or stillbirth, according to KDHS.

But there is huge disparities among counties. The proportion of women who had four or more ANC visits for their last live birth is lowest in Garissa (31 per cent) and highest in Nyeri (82 per cent).

"The death of any woman or young girl during pregnancy or childbirth is a serious violation of their human rights,” Dr Julitta Onabanjo, director of the technical division at the UNFPA, said.

“It also reflects the urgent need to scale-up access to quality sexual and reproductive health services as part of universal health coverage and primary healthcare, especially in communities where maternal mortality rates have stagnated or even risen during recent years."

The report says to increase survival rates, women and babies must have quality, affordable healthcare before, during and after childbirth, the agencies say, as well as access to family planning services.

More skilled and motivated health workers, especially midwives, are needed, alongside essential medicines and supplies, safe water, and reliable electricity.

In Kenya, there are 500 obstetricians and gynaecologists, and most delivery roles are taken up by nurses.

The UN report stresses that interventions should especially target the poorest women and those in vulnerable situations who are most likely to miss out on lifesaving care – including through critical subnational planning and investments.

Improving maternal and newborn health further requires addressing harmful gender norms, biases and inequalities.

Recent data show that only about 60 per cent of women aged 15-49 years make their own decisions regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights.